Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412140075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Montgomery County teams got the better of the basketball out-of-towners Friday.
Host Christiansburg High decked Radford 71-41 in the second game of the Wendy's-Pepsi Tipoff Classic and Auburn shot past Narrows 82-69 in the opener.
Success in football always comes with a price and Auburn made Narrows pay it over a month after the Eagles' own football season had been terminated.
Narrows ended its football season less than a week ago with a loss to Appalachia in the state Group A Division 1 semifinals. Friday, with three football players in the starting lineup and 11/2 days of practice under their chartreuse belts, the Green Wave gave it a respectable effort, but Auburn has too good a team for that.
The Eagles wore down their expiring foes in the second half and won going away.
``Narrows has some very good basketball players and they were playing as well as anybody late in the season last year in the old Mountain Empire District,'' Auburn coach Kevin Harris said. ``They'll be a lot better the next time we see them.''
Auburn got 25 points, including 8-for-8 free-throw shooting from Jon Reed, who earned his fourth foul with 2 minutes, 32 seconds left in the third quarter.
Auburn also got 17 points and 12 rebounds from Terry Millirons, 12 points from Ken Wojciechowski coming off the bench, and 10 points from Bradley Hudgins. More importantly for Auburn, Hudgins held Narrows sharpshooter Patrick Bailey to 18 points and only 12 shots.
Still, Narrows stayed in the game behind Bryan Pruett (21 points) - the starting quarterback last week at Appalachia - Scott Vaught (14), a linebacker, and Bailey.
The football caught up to the Green Wave in the second half when they yielded 50 points.
``My guys played as a team tonight,'' Harris said. ``I saw absolutely no selfishness out there.''
Christiansburg (2-0) looked nothing like the plodding outfits that have been stationed here in recent years. The Blue Demons pressured and ran like crazy.
``We have to,'' Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson said. ``We don't run an offense. When we tried, we threw the ball away.''
That didn't really matter, not with the press forcing 24 turnovers.
``I thought we were going to be fine then the next thing I knew, we were down 14 and it was getting worse,'' Radford coach Rick Cormany said.
Radford, which was playing in its season opener, trailed by 31 points in the second half. The only real bright spot for the Bobcats was senior Matt Linkous, who scored 17 points, canned all six of his free throws, and hit a 3-pointer.
As for the Demons, 12 players scored, John Hairston leading the charge with 12 points.
``All we've told them to do is play hard and they're doing that,'' Thompson said. ``They're having fun, we're having fun.''
In the second part of the doubleheader tonight, Radford and Narrows play at 7 p.m., with Christiansburg and Auburn to follow afterward.
NARROWS (69)
Bailey 8 1-2 18, Perkins 2 1-2 6, Vaught 7 0-1 14, Pruett 9 1-1 21, R. Stafford 1 2-3 4, Hollie 1 4-4 6, Robertson 0 0-2 0. Totals: 28 9-15 69.
AUBURN (82)
Lytton 0 1-2 1, Hudgins 3 3-7 10, Harman 3 1-2 7, Sutphin 1 0-0 2, Alderman 3 0-0 8, Reed 8 8-8 25, Millirons 8 1-3 17, Wojciewchowski 5 2-4 12. Totals: 31 16-26 82.
Narrows 11--15--27--16-69
Auburn 13--19--26--24-82
Three-point goals: Pruett 2, Alderman 2, Bailey, Perkins, Hudgins, Reed. Total fouls: Narrows 19, Auburn 15.
JV: 58-39, Narrows.
RADFORD (41)
Dobbins 1 0-0 2, Hendricks 1 1-2 3, Hubbard 1 2-2 4, Jones 3 0-0 6, Kinser 1 1-2 3, Linkous 5 6-6 17, Perkins 0 0-2 0, Ridpath 2 2-2 6, Thompson 0 0-1 0. Totals: 14 12-17 41.
CHRISTIANSBURG (71)
Porter 4 0-0 10, Alexander 2 3-3 7, McHose 1 0-0 2, Hubble 2 1-2 5, Calloway 2 2-2 6, Hairston 5 0-0 12, Ashbrook 0 3-4 3, Thompson 5 0-0 10, Rhudy 2 2-4 6, Williams 1 2-6 4, Osborne 1 2-2 4, Stone 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 15-23 71.
Radford 8---6--12--15-41
Christiansburg 9--21--16--25-71
Three-point goals: Porter 2, Hairston 2.
JV: 36-34, Christiansburg
by CNB